


The Great Heist

by Paresse



Series: Captain's Log [3]
Category: Dappervolk (Video Game)
Genre: Blind Character, Crime Date, Fluff, Fluff and Crimes, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paresse/pseuds/Paresse
Summary: The Captain's airship, the Lunnaeus, is still not quite airborne. It gets restless and has a tenancy to pester a certain rival. This time, upon the Captain's trespassing, Wras has something else in mind
Relationships: World-Hopper/Wras, Wras/The Captain
Series: Captain's Log [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854076
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

The ruins are getting more and more familiar. To the point the Captain will come out alone now. It slowly swims its way through the kelp, a hand tracing along the cracked stone of one of the houses.

It never liked getting wet before… but now? It had been in and out of the water as often as a frog. Propelling itself through the seawater was nearly as rewarding as gliding above the clouds. If a bit safer. Thicker and easier to navigate. Poking its head in to pester Wras was enough to make up for the lack of adrenaline, though.

“On my turf again, moth~” That laugh came from above, “I’d start to think you’re looking for trouble.”

“Think of the devil and he shall appear.” The Captain laughs as it hears the other pirate land near it and turns to face the sound, “Yea, looks like I’m loiterin’ ‘round again. Whatcha gonna do about it, ah?” It crosses its arms and floats there, antennae held cheekily out to the sides.

“Hmm… well, you’ve caught me in a good mood. Crew and I are cooking up some major mayhem. Something legendary.” The Captain twitches an antennae up at hearing that, and Wras only grins wider, “Aaaand since nobody in this entire ocean can do the kind of weird surface magic you can, I'm thinking you could be our secret weapon. You in?”

“Hell yes, I’m in!” It blurts out. Wras would swear its hair fluffs out even in the water as it perks up, “Luna ain’t ready for the skies yet and I can only get so much excitement trying to keep my head down ‘til she’s done.”

Wras laughed at its enthusiastic response and nods, “Alright, alright. I hope you’re just as stealthy as some of your crew, ‘cause it’s a heist.”

The Captain settles down onto a bit of rubble nearby to listen, antennae alert.

“I think you'll hate our target as much as I do. His name's Mikam.” Wras practically spits the name, “He's a real bottom feeder. Lowest of the low. One of my least favorite customers if I had to rank 'em. The guy owns more property than he knows what to do with, and all he cares about is getting more.” The Captain hummed low and nodded at that. He knew a couple nobles like that in the Cove. “He's got two employees whose only jobs are to follow him around and shine his scales every thirty minutes.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah! He’s got more money than sense!” Wras threw his hands up, “He’s the worst. One time he paid me a hundred thousand potatoes to buy the shoes off my feet, and he still complained that they didn't fit him after. I almost stabbed him for that, but I thought up a better revenge…”

“I’d’ve just stabbed ‘im.” The Captain laughs, “AND done something later, he sounds like a right piece of work.”

Wras snickered and shrugged at the stabbing comment, “Usually I’m happy to sell to any rich idiot who wants to waste their potatoes, but this guy is a waste of water.” He shakes his head, “But I know just how to hit him where it hurts. He’s hosting one of his famous birthday parties tomorrow, and we're going to crash it. It’s invite-only, though.”

The Captain puts its chin into its hands and tilts its head, listening intently, “We got a specific target or just mayhem?”

“Well, see, he's got more priceless artifacts than you could count in a lifetime, but we're going to steal something better. Mikam commissioned a sculptor to make a giant kelp statue of himself for the party. Bought up half the kelp supply in Vaer Reef to do it.”

The Captain’s antennae pinned back, “Ain’t kelp the main staple down here?”

“Exactly. Prices are so high now that my crew and I only had algae for lunch yesterday. That was the last straw for me. If he's taking the kelp outta my mouth, then I'm gonna steal it back.”

The Captain nods… then pauses, “Yesterday? You planned this all out in a day?” There’s a hint of worry to its voice.

Wras laughs, “Don’t worry your pretty little wings about that. It’s a solid plan.”

The moth hesitates, but shrugs. It doesn’t have anything to lose down here, “Alright, so tell me ‘bout it.”

“We need a way to infiltrate the party, like I said, invite-only. I've got way too famous of a face to pose as a guest, but you? You're perfect. People know you, sure, but no one’s caught you like they have me. And your big show channeling their great shark deity? No one will question you getting an invite. You’ll need a good fancy outfit, though. I’m sure you’ve got some fancy suit from your travels.”

The Captain hums and taps a claw to its mask, “Aye.” One of its antennae quirks in a cheeky manner, “I think I’ve got juuuust the thing back up above. Tomorrow, right? When’s it start?”

“Midday, but we’re gonna be fashionably late anyways.” Wras crosses his arms, “Meet me here.”

“You got it, boss.”


	2. Chapter 2

“There. You look perfect, Cap’n.”

“Hah, ye better not be pullin’ my leg, Syrin.”

“When have I ever led you astray when it comes to clothes, hm? Besides, it’s all gold. No way Wras won’t love it.”

“It ain’t-- I’m not dressin’ up just for him.”

“Sure, Cap’n. Now git.”

\---

Wras kicks his legs idly off the side of the roof he’s perched on as he carves into a piece of dead coral with a knife. Everything else was set up smoothly, some of his crew were chilling a little ways away to wait on their guest, too. He huffed through his gills as he accidentally cuts a little too much off in one swipe and chucks the piece of coral away, now bored.

His eyes scan the swaying kelp, and he catches sight of a glimmer of gold. His fins perk up as he double takes. The Captain slides out of the kelp, and not in a suit.

A dress of gold and topaz hangs from its body in an organized chaos of shards and a matching cape drapes off its back, over its fins. It has its mask on, but the signature hat is gone for now. It’s carrying itself with a strange kind of elegance that makes him hesitate.

“Wras?”

He shakes his head, the Captain’s call pulling him out of… whatever  _ that  _ was. He jumps down, “I’m here.” He lets out a laugh and swims over, “Heh. You look like a regular high society snob in that stupid fancy getup. Makes me glad I can use my own clothes when I'm posing as your servant.”

The Captain scoffs, “Really? So famous ye can’t be the main event--” It motions to itself, “--but not so famous ye can slip by as a servant.” 

“See, that’s the thing. There's no way any of those fools will spend more than half a second looking at the help. They’ll all be lookin’ at you and your pretty lil dress.” Wras rolled his eyes.

“Aw, y’ just’ can’t help yerself from callin’ me pretty, can ye?”

Wras busts out in a signature laugh and sets a hand on the Captain’s shoulder, “Come on, now, we have a party to crash!” He motions to the crew for them to come over, “All we need is to get you an invite and a way to arrive in style. Fortunately for you, my crew and I have that handled.” He flashes his fins proudly, rolling his shoulders.

Wras takes it upon himself to guide the Captain once they’re in less familiar waters, in the richer parts of the deep-dea reef. They swim up above the reach of the streetlights and the Captain waits, curious about their plan.

“So~!” Wras suddenly speaks, “How about we let you pick a carriage, hm?”

The Captain opens its mouth to point out that it can’t see, when Wras starts listing the carriages below out loud. Its lips twitch into a little smile behind its mask. When he finishes, it taps a claw thoughtfully to its chin.

“I want the biggest, gaudiest carriage possible. One that matches my dress, hm?” It snickers, mostly teasing.

Wras laughs and grabs its wrist, “Looks like we're gonna arrive in style.” It can  _ hear _ the grin on its face as he motions for his crew to dive. It laughs and swims along, listening to Wras’ crew spook the seahorses and take over the reigns in what sounds like something routine. It moves out of the way as Wras rips the passenger out of the carriage and laughs as it dives into the carriage after him.

“Smooth sailing~” Wras snickers out, “No way they’ll catch up to us.” He slides onto the cushions as he lets go of the Captain at last and starts rummaging through the carriage, “Let’s see, let’s see… nope, that’s not-- well! I’ll take that!” 

The Captain perks its antennae up and chuckles, “What’d ye find?” It asks, leaning back and lounging out on the other cushions.

“Little candy box. Rich people always have tiny snacks wherever they go. I oughta have one of my crew carry some around for me.”

The Captain snorts at that, but then starts to listen closely when Wras opens the box, hears the little way his claws scratch against the crystallized plankton… and then--

“Hey, get your own!” Wras holds the piece out of the Captain’s reach as it suddenly darts out a hand to try and steal a piece, laughing through his words. But the Captain doesn’t let up, knocking Wras over to get to it. They end up in a little tussle until the Captain manages to snatch one of the little candies out of Wras’ claws. It lets out a triumphant cry and hops back to the other cushions, lifting the mask just enough to pop the little candy into its mouth.

“Pfft-- You’re a right piece of work, ah?” Wras sits up and shakes his head, but the grin is stuck on his face as he continues searching the compartments of the carriage. The Captain settles again, listening to the sound of the water outside swishing by. Its antennas lay back as it relaxes, rolling the candy around in its mouth.

“Y’ know,” It starts, “yer gettin’ to be a better guide. Not nearly as terrible a trip here as when ye led me back to give me th’ ship.”

Wras pauses in his search to pout in its direction, “Was that an insult or a compliment?”

“Yes.” It cracks the candy between its teeth as if to emphasize. Wras rolls his eyes and goes back to searching.

“Here we go. Your invite. Tonight, you're Fifiolo, socialite and amateur romance novelist. All you gotta do is keep your cover, and our plan'll go off without a hitch.”

The Captain holds out its hand to take the invitation and Wras sets it in its palm. It traces the edges of the little statuette. 

Wras lets out a little sigh and leans back, looking over the Captain again. This time, though, he’s thinking. And not about whatever it was that caught him off guard when he saw the Captain earlier, “You dressed the part, but…” He clicks his tongue, “You know how to act like a noble? Not sure that accent of yours will pass. Sit up straighter. Chin up like you’re better than anyone else.”

It flicks one of its antennae, “Ye trust me, right? If ye didn’t, you’d’ve just have one o’ yer other crew dress up all fancy. I know how t’ act, Wras.” The carriage stops.

“...I hope so. ‘Cause we’re here.”


	3. Chapter 3

The carriage shudders to a stop, and one of the mansion's footmen opens the door. The Captain slides out first, head held back and high, brushing off one side of its gown as it settles on the marble of the front stairs. 

Wras hands the statue over to the footman, who turns to the Captain and bows politely.

“And how shall we announce you?”

The Captain tilts its head a little towards the man and then absently motions to Wras, who takes the cue without missing a beat. His fins flutter as he bows with a flourish, pitching his voice loud enough to boom across the mansion's lawn.

“Behold the magnificent and noble Fifiolo, heir to the Vaer Reef Sandal Strap company!”

The footman seems to flush and steps back, dipping his head and motions for them to continue as the carriage behind them pulls away.

Wras snickers and follows the manta-finned moth down the stairs, “Well, can’t pick up on your accent if you don’t speak, ah?”

He hears a soft snort from behind the mask before it answers, “That  _ would _ be a fine tactic if rich people weren’t so strung up on gossip.” He does a double take as it actually speaks. The harsh gruff of its usual voice softened and the slur of its accent all but gone, “But I’m a distraction, yes? I can’t be distracting if I keep mum and withdrawn.” It quirks an antennae as it pretends to look around.

Wras smirks, “Another step here.” He leads the Captain up the large main staircase, eyes scanning around and contemplating his next move, “Just mingle for now. I’ve got a few ideas, but you need to blend in the meantime. I’ll scope it out”

The Captain sighs and steps into the main ballroom. A guard announces its arrival and it takes a slow breath. 

Music comes from another room, and it can hear the sounds of the room bounce off of a high ceiling--vaulted probably--but it only gets a moment to reminisce on the last time it heard music for slow dancing at a rich event like this. Then it hears the swishing of cloth and turns its head as a woman chatters up to it and asks how it knows Mikam, promptly sweeping it easily into a conversation. It keeps up the act, no accent in sight.

Wras follows silently behind, the Captain’s tall, elegant stature drawing more attention than the rainbow of his fins. It overshines him in the gold and jewels. He’s more grateful than jealous.

“Captain!” A familiar voice rings out and the Captain’s antennae pin back.

It’s Clione. The Captain turns immediately and fans one fin out to hide Wras behind it.

“Clione~! What’re you doing here, hm?”

“I should ask you that! This doesn’t seem like your crowd, and what’s with the voice?” She grabs its wrist and pulls it closer to whisper quickly, “You have someone following you, you know him, right?” She cranes her neck to try and look over its shoulder.

“Aaahahahah, yes, I know him, he’s a good friend of mine.” The Captain starts trying to distract her, but she’s having none of it.

“Well,  _ I _ haven’t met him, introduce me!” She moves around it faster than it can react to grab her and she gasps as she sees Wras’ face…

Then giggles, “Ooooh, you’re a sly dog, Captain!” She grins and just floats there as Wras looks between her and the Captain, certain they’ve been caught, “What’s this then, a date?”

Wras’s cheeks and the Captain’s ears both turn bright red and she giggles harder. Both open their mouths to protest but she interrupts, waving her hands, “No, no I won’t tell anyone! But If two pirate captains are here at such a lavish party, you’re going to make things more fun, right? Oh, I can’t stand Mikam.” 

She twirls a strand of her hair in one finger, “Honestly, I'm only here because some of my theaters' patrons like to socialize with the stars. Ugh, they have feedback on everything and I hate listening to it! Like, please stop backseat dancing and stick to what you know, which is nothing.”

Said pirates slowly relax as Clione begins to ramble. It’s clear she has no intent of ruining their plans. “Last time Mikam told me that I was dancing too purple and he wanted me to dance more blue. What's that even supposed to mean? And of course I can't say anything if I want the production to keep its funding. It's the worst.”

Wras even sympathizes with her on hating Mikam. 

But after a bit, he gets anxious and tugs on the Captain’s fin, to which its antennae perk up, “We’ve gotta get a move on.” He explains.

Clione’s eyes light up, “Of course, of course! Oh, I can’t wait to see the look on Mikam’s face!” She swims off, leaving Wras to pull the Captain off to one side. They pause for a moment, tucked away behind yet another coral sculpture of Mikam. 

Then bust out into fits of laughter.


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh, I thought we were dead for sure, holy shit…” The Captain wheezes out. Its heart is still going a mile a minute as Wras falls silent after catching his breath. It can’t see the way his calculating gaze examines the ballroom they’d just left behind, but the light catches the eel-pirate’s fin, shimmering colors into the little light-difference it can see. It can feel its heart in its throat as the sounds of the ballroom fall into background noise.

Wras’ voice breaks through its thoughts, “Alright, we’re plenty in the clear, but now we need to make a real solid distraction. Any ideas?”

The Captain shifts back into gear and its antennae sway slowly, thoughtfully. A wickedly childish idea comes to mind, “Well… there’s always the classic food fight.” Its accent has started to slip back into place. 

Wras grins wide, “I like the way you think.” He snickers and leads the Captain over to the food bar. Its claws tap across the table as it contemplates, listening to people nearby and then… its claws hook around a bowl of algae gel and it turns to upend the bowl over the nearest socialite’s head. At the same time, Wras has flung a chunk of some sort of cake at a guard’s shirt. A friend of the socialite laughs and joins in, attempting to get revenge by flinging something at the Captain. It ducks and the food hits another guard. From then on, it's pandemonium. The genteel atmosphere has devolved into absolute chaos, each partier focused on nothing less than total destruction.

Wras laughs with an almost childlike glee as the two duck off to the side and out of the way. The Captain flicks some kelp cake icing off of one of its wings and is stuck in one hell of a giggle fit. 

Wras surveys the scene like a maniacal king, people laughing and knocking things over as they throw food at one another. Then his eyes fall on guards heading their way. 

“Time to go!” He grabs the Captain’s wrist and bolts, the blind moth laughing and following along the moment it hears one of the guards yelling for them to stop. Excitement buzzes through its fur as they make the twists and turns through the mansion trying to get away, but only more guards pour through. They make it to a courtyard and Wras’ hand finally lets go of the Captain’s wrist.

“Well, hello there.”

The Captain twitches an antennae, not knowing what Wras was looking at until…

“Just one seahorse, looks like you’re on your own!”

The Captain balks in its shock and barely notices the little shell whistle pressed into its palm.

“Keep ahold of this, and stall those guards for me, ah?” A split second later and the Captain hears him take off.

It’s only a second before the Captain’s hearty laugh in full blast follows. It should have seen something like this coming and is caught in the ridiculousness of the scenario, “To the depths with you, Wras!!” It yells after him.

Then it turns back towards the guards, hearing their stampeding boots in the hall. It feels along the whistle and smiles to itself before lifting its skirt to pull a hidden knife from its sheath and flinging it towards the guards.

In their shock they part like the red sea and the Captain is quick to take advantage of it, barrelling through them to go back the way they came.

It can barely remember the path back through the mansion as it manages to grab the knife and slip out of the hands of the guards. But some sort of muscle-memory instinct kicks into gear and it manages to right itself every time it hits a wall or a statue. It even upturns some of the statues, managing to gain some ground against the guards. 

It darts in and out of the halls before it hits a dead end in a room. Its drawing through its gills fast and hard, head turning this way and that. 

How long has it been? Has it stalled enough for Wras? It feels along a wall and finds a window just as the door slams open behind it. It rears its head back and uses the hard bronze of the mask to smash through it, worming out just as a hand tries and fails to grab its tail. In the open water it makes a mad dash for darker waters, but a dolphin cuts it off. It hisses and back-wings but after a second realizes it's surrounded.

“Alright, pirate, surrender now and we’ll go easy on you!”

The Captain pauses… and runs a claw along the surface of the shell-whistle. It lifts its mask enough to reveal its fanged, crazed grin before it sticks the end of the whistle in its mouth and blows on it.


	5. Chapter 5

Nothing happens at first, the sound is weak to everyone there… but the Captain can feel a strange sort of vibration in its antennae, a sound higher than the hearing of anyone here. It lowers the whistle and laughs again. The guards are frozen, unsure and braced for anything as an uneasy quiet comes over them--eyes darting around--except for the Captain’s laughter.

And then screams break out among the guards and the Captain hears a loud crash. The roar of Wras’ giant crab echos out over the crowd of guards. It reaches a hand out upwards, towards the sound.

And Wras uses his cane to reach far enough down to hoist it up onto the back of the crab. It grabs onto his shirt to hang on.

“Looks like you got out of there after all. I almost didn't think you'd make it!”

“Oh, ye of little faith!” The Captain adjusts itself to sit properly on the crab behind Wras, wrapping its arms around him to stay on, “Here I thought you trusted me.” It flourishes the whistle out for Wras to take.

“Thank you!” He plucks the whistle out of its claws and pulls on the reins of the crab so they begin to move, “And I did trust you to distract them! Just not to get away. Thought I was gonna have to plan a rescue mission for a blind moth!”

The sound of other crabs surrounds them and the Captain perks its head up, antennae swivelling around.

“The chaos in the ballroom was only half the distraction. The other half was you. I needed you to distract the guards, because I didn't want them to notice this. We got the statue, clean as a whistle!” The Captain snorts at the pun and Wras cackles his signature cackle before continuing, “We'll swim until we're over the center of the town, and then get the crabs to slice up the statue. Everyone in Vaer Reef tomorrow is going to wake up to kelp from above, whether they wanted it or not! And that’s not all...”

He pulls some trinkets out of his pocket, and the shimmer of gold flashes across the Captain’s vision, “While we were in there, I decided to liberate a couple extras for myself. You can take some, too. I got more than enough to buy myself anything I want now.”

It hums softly in contentment at that and finally lets go of Wras as the ride smooths out. It lays back on the shell of the crab and heaves a sigh as it tries to slow its racing heart, “So that’s it, ah? We got th’ statue, turned a ball into a riot, and now yer sweepin’ me off me feet on the back of a giant crab and givin’ me gifts of gold.” It almost giggles.

Wras peers over his shoulder at it, raising an eyebrow.

“Ye really sure this ain’t a date?” It sits back up and reaches out to take one of the strands of gold from Wras’ hand. It turns the jewelry over in its hand and examines it with its touch.

Wras chuckles and shrugs, “I dunno. You’re the one who came dressed to impress, hm?” He looks back forward to pay attention to where he’s going.

“Oh, I thought I looked like ‘a regular high society snob’.” It taunted, mocking his voice.

“First of all, I do  _ not  _ sound like that.” Wras laughed out, “And second, you  _ do. _ Just one with  _ actual  _ fashion sense!”

As the crabs swim up above Vaer Reef, the Captain sighs, tilting its head back. It considers taking its mask off for a moment, and then does so, tying the eyepatch proper around its head and putting the mask on a little hook on its belt.

Laughter from the rest of the crew around them rings through the water as they near the city, dragging the statue close to the rooftops. It goes quiet and just… listens to the sounds of everything around it. Wras directing the others, the crabs chittering to each other, the screams of people as they pass overhead…

And it smiles.

Wras looks around to make sure everything is in position and double takes as he realizes the Captain’s mask is gone. He stares for a second, but still motions to one of the crew on a crab to get into place before he calls for them to start tearing the kelp apart.

“You know, this is my favorite part of being a pirate.” He lets go of the reins and leans back, surveying his domain, “I can do anything I want!” He motions a hand out to the chaos before him, “The real party starts now.”

The Captain tilts its head towards Wras, “...ye never gave me a straight answer.”

“There ain’t a single straight thing about me.” Wras fires back almost instantly. 

The Captain snickers, but insists on the question, “Ye really sure this ain’t a date?”

“...” Wras takes a breath, “Didn’t mean for it to be, but it depends… Do you want it to be?” He turns his head to look at the Captain, smirking a little at the flush on its face--bright and obvious against its pale skin now that its mask is gone.

“Do  _ you? _ ”

“See now you’re not giving  _ me _ a straight answer!” 

Their laughter is almost swallowed by the laughter of the rest of the crew who are oblivious to their conversation. The Captain lifts the jewelry Wras had given it and drapes it around its neck.

“It is what it is, then. Let’s join the party.” It dives off the side of the crab to join the other pirates in their revelry above the city, Wras close behind.


End file.
